Fabric-pressing device.



PATENTED DEC. 3, 1907.

H. GOODAGRE. FABRIC PRESSING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28,1907.

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A TTOR/VE 1 5 PV/T/VESSES HENRY GOODAORE, OF PINE VILLAGE, INDIANA.

FABRIC-PRESSING DEVICE.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 3, 1907.

Application filed February 28. 1907. Serial No. 359.768.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY GOODACRE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pine Village, in the county ofWarren and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Fabric-Pressing Device, of which the following is a specification. I

My present invention relates to improvements in devices for pressing a crease in fabrics, and similar materials, and especially to that class of devices adapted for pressing creases in garments, such, for instance, as trousers, and it has for its object to provide a device of this kind that is simple in construction; that enables it to be manufactured and sold at a small cost, and is capable of being readily applied and removed relatively to the garment, the improved clamp ing devices employed insuring a perfect and uniform creasing of the fabric and insuring the proper cooperative relation of the clamping or pressing members.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out particularly in the claims at the end of the s ecification.

In the accompanying rawings: Figure 1 shows a pair of pressing devices constructed in accordance with my invention, the devices being applied to the folded edges of a pair of trousers. Fig. 2 represents a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a top view of the device shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, indicating the position of the clamping device when the pressure between the clamping members is released. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a section of one of the devices showing the clamping members separated to permit the insertion or removal of the fabric. Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of two forms of clamps adapted to hold the pressing members in cooperative relation with the fabric or garment to be pressed or creased. Fig. 7 is a view of another form of clamp that may be used, it being composed of wire. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a clamp that may be formed of cast metal.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are indicated throughout by similar charac ters of reference.

The pressing or creasing device shown in the present embodiment of my invention is especially adapted for creasing the front and rear folded edges of trouser legs, although it will be understood, of course, that in adapting the device to garments of different shapes, the construction of the pressing or clamping members will be correspondingly modified.

The device in its present form comprises a pair of cooperating pressing members 1 and 2, the latter being preferably composed of wood or other substantially rigid material, and preferably having an outline corresponding with the edge of the garment to be pressed or creased. In the present instance,

these members are also tapered toward their outer edges for the purpose of providing inclined surfaces to cooperate with those portions of the clamps that engage them, and press them together or in cooperative relation with the fabric which is adapted to be interposed between them.

The clamps for moving and holding the pressing or clamping members in cooperative relation are preferably composed of resilient material that will produce a yielding pressure on the fabric, and will also accommodate different thicknesses of the material between the clamping members without requiring adjustment of the device, and in Figs. 1 t0 5, inclusive, the clamps employed are each composed of resilient or spring wire, each clamp embodying a pivot portion 3 formed at one end and providing a journal adapted to cooperate with the apertures 4 and 5 formed in the members 1 and 2, respectively, these apertures extending transversely through the clamping members at points adjacent to their outer edges so as to leave suflicient clamping surface for engagement with the fabric, and the apertures of each pair of cooperating clamping members are arranged to register, and the journal 3 of the clamp engaging in these apertures to insure registration of the clamping members. It is preferable that the clamp should be permanently attached to one of the members in order to prevent its loss, and, in the present instance, it is secured to the member 2 by means of a collar or shoulder 6 fixed to the journal portion thereof between the clamping members; Proceeding from the journal portion of the clamp, the Wire is extended at substantially right angles thereto and doubled to form a loop 7 having-its sides lying in a plane parallel to the outer or under surface of the clamping member 2, the free end of the loop thus formed being extended past the journal portion of the clamp and thence doubled in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of the loop 7, forming a loop 8, and the free end 9 of the latter is arranged to cooperate with the upper surface of the clamping member 1, an upturned end 10 being providedon the end of the arm 9 which will insure proper engagement of this arm of the clamp relatively to its cooperating clamping member. The clamp thus provided serves to press the clamping members firmly into cooperative relation with the garment or fabric interposed between them, the arms of the loop 8 having a normal tendency to proximate the clamping members arranged between them, and as these arms extend practically throughout-the width of the clamping members, pressure produced by the clamps will be substantially uniform between the inner and outer edges of the clamping members, and the loop 7 of the clamp serves to prevent relative angular twisting of the arms of the loop 8 relatively to the clamping members and also relieves the journal portion of the clamp from binding in the apertures or bearings formed in the clamping members.

When it is desirable to apply the clamping members to a garment, or to insert the folded portion of the fabric, the clamp is turned to the position shown in Fig. 4, the dotted lines showing the corresponding position in Fig. 3, and this will disengage both arms of the loop 8 from the corresponding clamping members, thus permitting the upper or detachable member to be removed from the upwardly projecting journal portions of the clamps, and after the fabric has been in-' serted, the detachable member is applied to the cooperating clamping member, the proj ecting portions of the journals of all of the clamps of the series entering the apertures 24 of the detachable clamping member. By rotating the clamps about their journal portions as axes, the resilient arms of the loop 8 will be carried inwardly into cooperative relation with the outsides of the clamping members, and the relatively inclined surfaces of the latter, cooperatin with these arms of the clamps, serve to pro uce a clamping action between them, the pressurel being suflicient to give the fabric a permanent set or crease. The creasing or pressing may be accomplished in less time by dampening those portions of the fabric or garment to be creased before the clamping members are applied thereto.

In some cases, it may be desirable to obtain greater resiliency in the clamps, and this is provided for by thelclamps shown in Fig. 6 wherein the loop 8 is'ijprovided 'with a coil or convolution 12 which affords greater resiliency between the arms 13 and 14, or, if preferred, the coil may be omitted, and the material of the clamp given a fuller bend and provided with a doubled end to' provide a sufiicient bearing surface on the pressing member for the clamp. The clamp is also capable of being formed of castmetal instead of wire as shown in Fig. 8, and in this case one of the pressing members would be provided with a pivot pin to cooperate with the aperture 15 in the clamp. It will also be understood that the pressing members need not necessarily be tapered, as they could be formed more cheaply with parallel sides.

A pressing or creasing device constructed in accordance with my present invention is simple in construction, enabling it to be manufactured and sold at a reasonable price, and it is capable of being applied and removed to the garment or fabric with the greatest facility, and, in operation, .it serves to produce a permanent and a sharply defined crease on the folded edge of garments such as trousers, and the like, and the substantially rigid clamping members serve to retain the garment in its proper shape during the pressing or creasing operation. The clamps employed may be made of resilient or spring wire by means of automatic wire bending machines so that the cost thereof is merely nominal and they are capable of peing readily applied to the clamping memers.

What is claimed is 1. In a device of the character described,

. the combination with a pair of substantially rigid clamping members adapted to receive the folded portions of a fabric between them, and having cooperatively arranged apertures therein, of a clamp having a pivot or journal portion engaging in said apertures of the clamping members to retain the latter in registration, and provided with a pair of connected arms extending inwardly from the edges of the clamping members for holding the clamping members in cooperative relation with the fabric interposed between them.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a pair of clamping members adapted to receive the fabric between them, and having apertures arranged to register, of a clamp having a journal portion adapted to engage with said apertures, means for preventing disengagement between said clamp and one of said members, and clamping arms on said clamp adapted to cooperate with the respective clamping members.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a pair of clamping members having apertures therein adapted to register when said members are in proper cooperative relation, of a clamp having a journal portion adapted to engage in said apertures, a relatively fixed shoulder on said journal portion between the clamping members for permitting detachment of one of the latter and preventing detachment of the other, and clamping arms on the clamp adapted to move into and out of cooperative relation with the respective clamping members when the clamp is turned about its journal portion.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a pair of cooperating clamping members, of a clamp arranged in pivotal relation therewith and embodying a journal portion extending transversely of the plane of said members, a loop portion having its arms lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said members and adapted to engage with one of them, and a loop having its arms lying in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of said members and having a free arm arranged to cooperate with the other clamping member of the pair.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a pair of substantially rigid clamping members, of a clamp mounted to turn in a plane substantially parallel to the clamping surfaces of said members and embodying a ournal portion eXtendingin a direction transversely of the plane of the clamping surfaces, a loop having its sides lying in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of movement of the clamp, and a resilient loop portion having its arms lying in a plane arranged transversely of the plane of movement of the clam and adapted to engage the respective c amping members to hold them in cooperative relation.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a pair of substantially rigid clamping members having substantially parallel clamping surfaces to receive a fabric to be pressed, and relatively inclined surfaces sloping toward the outer edges of the clamping members, of a clamp having a pivot cooperating with both of said members and arranged to turn in a plane substantially parallel to the clamping surfaces thereof, and having resilient arms arranged to cooperate with the inclined surfaces of the respective clamping members for moving the latter into cooperative relation with the fabric interposed between them.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY GOODAORE.

Witnesses:

MILLARD FARDEN, JAMES C. JONES. 

